Monday, February 03, 2014

I Dream In Mixed Media

As I gaze out my window at yet another snow storm, I find myself dreaming of Maine. Since dreaming is the only way I can get there right now, I'll have to settle for Maine in mixed media.

Harbor Dreams

24" x 24"

Mixed Media on Canvas

This folk-style mixed media painting was inspired by the work of British mixed media artist, Mike Bernard. After discovering his work by chance on the internet, I visited his website. I was thrilled to learn that he wrote a book entitled Collage, Color and Texture in Painting. I wasted no time in ordering it, and I found it to be a gold mine of inspiration and information.

Mike's work leans toward the abstract, but it has definite roots in realism. I would like my next painting to be less folk and more abstract. Either way, the process is fairly straightforward.

My substrate (surface) is a pre-primed heavy duty, gallery-style canvas. I began with collage utilizing newspaper, magazines, brown paper, and mulberry paper. My adhesive is matte medium. I deliberately left some areas uncovered to give the effect of light coming through.

I combined Golden fluid acrylics with Liquitex matte glazing medium and began to paint the first layer. As I learned from Mike's book, it is best to confine your main color choices to two or three colors. It will make the finished work more cohesive. diluted the paint with water and allowed it to run down the canvas to create more movement and texture.

I applied white acrylic paint in some areas to create light. I abandoned the brush for this step and used a palette knife to scrape the paint over the canvas.

I applied more paint began cutting pieces for the windows. This is where I think I fussed a bit too much. Next time, I'll eliminate some of the detail.

Using my palette knife, I began layering paint and scraping at it with the knife for texture. Adding a bit of detail I couldn't resist, I cut out numerous shapes from color magazine pages for the lobster buoys.

I added tree trunks and branches with the knife, and collaged and painted the boats in the water. I also painted the pilings under the dock.

Next I cut thin strips of paper to form the lobster cages. I painted in the details with a liner brush and fluid acrylic. I tore bits of magazine pages to form the foliage on the trees.

Finally, I added texture and detail using oil pastels.

I'm already planning my next painting! I hope this was fun for you to follow along. If you have any questions, email me and I'll try to answer them for you. Thank you for joining me and I'll see you again soon!

Wow, gorgeous folk art! I enjoyed reading about your process in creating "Harbour Dreams"; you really captured Bernard's technique but instilled your own as well . Love the use of all the mediums , especially for the lobster traps with the coloured papers and the diluted paint for movement. Lovely, lovely work.